Work Text:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
They met at the movies and Penelope was grinning widely and pulling him into a tight embrace she purred: "Hello, my beautiful behavioral analyst." She wasn't allowed to hug him very often so she couldn't think of a reason not to take the opportunity today.
"Hey, sweetness." he replied happily and returned the embrace his lips slightly brushing over her cheek.
She cherished the feeling of his strong arms wrapped tightly around her for a good moment - and his smell. It should definitely be forbidden to be so... Derek. He was gorgeous, caring, sweet and he smelled so unbelievably good. This man was pure temptation!
Unfortunately, not a temptation she would ever be allowed to give into. But still she could unscrupulously flirt with him. So she didn't even try to stop the appreciating growl that came from deep in her throat.
"Hm... a new aftershave?" she grinned playfully at him. "What's it called? Personified temptation?"
Derek grinned. "Nope, it's called ‘Lay me tonight'."
She growled again and purred: "And lead us not into temptation."
"I'm rather sure that was blasphemy." he chuckled trying to act as normal as possible so that she didn't notice that he was confused and a little nervous.
"How did you survive a day at work without me?" she smirked as they paid for the tickets.
He couldn't help but grin at that. "It wasn't easy." he shrugged. "In fact, it was incredibly boring."
"Aw, I knew you'd miss me." Penelope giggled.
She just got another smile in return. Derek tried to act as if nothing had ever happened. But he couldn't stop thinking about the little encounter he'd had earlier that day.
But Penelope could sense the difference so finally she decided to confront him and frowned a little when she asked: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, baby girl." Derek mumbled, put an arm around her shoulder and led her into the cinema hall where they silently took their seats.
"Derek, don't lie to me." she said in a low voice. "Normally, we're flirting the whole time when we're waiting for the movie to start. But today you're staring at the screen without saying a word. What did I do wrong?"
"You did nothing." he assured and turned his head to look at her. "I met someone today."
"Oh." she whispered and looked down. "Well, congratulations." She tried to give him a smile. She was his best friend and she should be happy for him. Unfortunately, every time he wasn't seeing anyone else he spent his evenings with her and she couldn't help but hope that maybe, just maybe there could be more.
But, of course, this pathetic little spark of hope she simply couldn't abate was deceived every time he met another girl, another girl she could never compete with. They would never be more than friends, ever.
"What?" he gave her a puzzled look until he realized how his statement must have sounded to her. "No, baby girl, I... I met Strauss."
This caused her to look back at him and raise both her eyebrows.
"I... I went to her to talk" Derek explained, "about us. You and me. I'd talked to Rossi and Hotch earlier and then I... asked Strauss for her permission to date you - and well, I think she kinda owes Rossi or something ‘cause he called and then she said she was fine with it as long as it doesn't affect our work. So if you want that too this could be our first official date."
Her eyes widened obviously in shock. But much to Derek's surprise she didn't react. She didn't say anything nor did she hug him or yell at him. She did nothing that told him what she was thinking about. She remained silent, turned back to the screen and watched the movie without saying a word.
When Derek glanced over at her halfway through the movie he saw tears running down her cheek. What did that mean? Didn't she want to date him? Silently he reached over and took her hand in his squeezing it gently in an attempt to tell her that he was serious but wouldn't be mad if she declined. He would wait until she was ready to give him an answer.
Penelope couldn't quite believe he had done that. She was so overwhelmed that she wasn't able to answer nor to stop the tears of joy from running down her cheeks. Since the day they'd met she'd been waiting for this particular moment. And now she wasn't even able to say anything. There were only very few things that had ever left her speechless - but what she had just heard was one of them.
When Derek reached over she squeezed his hand in return. She would thank him for doing that. For loving her and being serious enough to talk to Strauss before he even talked to her. She would tell him that she loved him more than anything she could think of and that being with him was all she'd ever wanted. She would tell him as soon as she was able to formulate meaningful sentences again.